


Among Us in Polus

by Dramana22



Series: Among Us [3]
Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Human Impostor(s) (Among Us), Original Character(s), Polus (Among Us), amongussona
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27565003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dramana22/pseuds/Dramana22
Summary: After a horrific ending for the human crewmates on the ship Skeld, Drama and Purple were the only survivors left, facing a rather tough decision: Who was to kill the other first? We crash onto a strange planet named Polus, inhabited by aliens, and working to make sure that they stay alive as the pair of imposters ravage through their team; the imposters being their ever lovely visitors.
Series: Among Us [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937725
Kudos: 9





	Among Us in Polus

**Author's Note:**

> This will be the only major story left of Among Us In Character (i really should have thought of a better name lol), but there there will be one last installment that shall be a small continuation of this story. After that, I'll be doing more art and other projects that can be found on dramartist.tumblr.com and we-all-fall-underground.tumblr.com  
> Thanks for reading!

Stars are one of the galaxy's greatest wonders. They shimmer and glow with a vibrancy so enchanting you can't help but want to reach out and touch one. Sometimes, they fall. They fall and leave behind a trail of fire and star dust, and grant us a chance to actually take hold of them. One falls now, and it's so bright, so beautiful, so hot... so close... _too_ close. This star shouldn't be coming this close. Before the curious onlooker of this falling star can even comprehend what was happening, the oncoming meteor zips right past their head, heading several miles out and intending to make contact with the ground. It crashes with a resounding thud, shaking the floor the onlooker stood on, and when they finally regained their balance, they immediately ran back to their base, flagging down one of their crewmates so they could go inspect this celestial mystery.

Meanwhile, out in the newly formed crater, the wreckage of a ship sat gathering dust as it settled all around. Deep inside, a single person stirred, head spinning that made her unsure whether she was sitting on the ground or still being flung into space. Drama coughed up blood and dirt, attempting to open an eye and look around. There was crushed metal everywhere, parts of the outer ship cutting inwards, glass shattered, lights flickering; it was any wonder that her own visor only retained a single crack. _'That impact... should have done more damage...'_ she pondered as soon as her senses came about. Trying to get a better look, she slowly attempted to lift her body - only to immediately drop as sparks of pain shot through her.

The _pain_... it's almost enough to knock her back out. She set her head down and carefully calmed her breathing before giving it another chance to simply turn her head. The debris made it difficult to make anything out, but she caught a glimpse of a purple suit and her instincts kicked in. _'Purple!'_  
Drama reached out, wanting to call out to him, but the searing pain returned; and before she even got a chance to form an escape plan, Drama is knocked out like a light, head rolling to the side, his crushed body being the last thing she saw.  
  
___  
  
Hours go by, or perhaps days... weeks? It's hard to tell, as there is nothing but darkness. Scenes fade in and out: a space station on a foreign planet, Drama's crew upon the Skeld, her home on Earth, bloodied rotten corpses now just space junk, voices of people she knew and her friends' screams. For a split second, Drama could have sworn she could see the bright white light of an afterlife, before being thrust back into the darkness.

All is silent. It takes another couple of days before Drama comes to the realization that her mind is working again. She can form thoughts, hear voices, feel a cold shiver run through her body. Her body tenses, and suddenly the voices stop. There was something about them that Drama couldn't quite place, but when there's no response, she simply goes back to letting her mind drift. Was she alive then? Had she been saved? Or perhaps she was just imagining things, and was in fact dead.

Quickly her theory is disproven as her other senses kick in: the strange voices picked up again, the silkiness of a blanket, a silent beeping and hiss of air, the dryness of her lips. Drama attempts to lick at them now. Her subtle movement was enough to catch the attention of the voices as she hears them get up now and head towards her. In an instant, her eyes flash open and she's met with two unfamiliar beings: aliens. A surge of panic runs through her and the beeping picks up pace, only adding to her increasing panic. The aliens immediately rush over, one reaching for a panel overhead while the other gently presses her down. "Hey! Hey, calm down! You're okay now- you're safe!"

Drama freezes, staring at this alien in shock. "Don't panic," they continue, "please calm down." In that moment, Drama felt a calming pressure flow through her, and so she let her muscles relax, letting the two get to work. "Good, that's good."  
  
The one that spoke to her- the one dressed in a golden space suit- slowly stood up and moved out of the way of the alien dressed in lime. Drama kept her eyes trained on them, and when they noticed her looking, they chuckled and tapped at their collar. "We'll take good care of you, okay? I promise you, we'll get you up and in good condition to answer any questions you have for us. So just relax and hang tight, got it?"

Drama hardly got the chance to nod yes before drifting back into sleep.  
  
Some time passed, dreaming yet again, before Drama is pulled from bliss and hears a persistent "Wake up." And then, a gentle shake. She groans, before again: " _Eyes open_." Drama complied, slowly opening one eye to see the lime suit alien staring right at her with a blinding flashlight. The shock wakes her completely and she flinches away. Satisfied, Lime reels back and writes something down upon a clipboard they held and walks away for a moment.

Taking this as her moment to breathe, Drama looked around to take in her surroundings. She appeared to be in some sort of medical bay, too open and with too little beds in sight to even be considered a proper hospital. To her left there seemed to be an oxygen tank, and she gently reached to her face to feel the mask that was placed over her. She could see her blue space suit in tatters at the foot of her bed, and a distinct lack of major injuries on any part of her visible body. How in the hell was she still alive? Mind wandering again, she looked back at Lime who was opening the door for someone, but then her eyes immediately flicked to the only bed with it's curtains drawn. 'It can't be...' she wondered, before a figure stepped in front of her and interrupted her train of thought.

"Well hello there!" The being announced in a chipper voice. "Good afternoon to you! That's how you humans speak to each other, am I correct?"

Drama slowly glanced at this being and gasped at how closely human this alien resembled; the only off things being his violent skin and strawberry hair. He wore a maroon colored suit, and on his right shoulder was a patch that was all too familiar to Drama: the patch of their space station on Earth.

"It's so wonderful that you're awake, and those curious eyes of yours tell me you're probably awake enough to keep conversation, am I right? Oh boy, you won't believe how excited I am!"  
  
He walked over and sat by the foot of her bed, making her burn energy to move her feet over even just a little bit. She stared him down with skeptical eyes, but found it in her to speak up, voice hoarse. "You guys saved me... you're from the same space program... but some place else. Where are we?"

Maroon clapped his hands together and smiled. "She speaks! And you've got quite the brain on you! Yes, I noticed your patch as well. Welcome to Polus! Planet 13 as probably known to you Earthians." He snapped his fingers, and that's when Drama noticed the gold and lime suited aliens standing aside, as Lime stepped forward to hand over a clipboard. She also couldn't help but note the respectful way they stood to attention, and so she pieced together that this alien was their leader.

He quickly scanned over the info written on the clipboard when Drama cleared her throat again to ask, "How come I can understand you guys?" This caught their attention, and she gently lifted a finger to the aliens behind him. "I could have sworn I heard them speak in tongues of something, nothing humane at all. But now you guys speak perfect English?"

Maroon chuckled and gave a curt nod. "That would have to be because of our cutting edge technology," he gestured to a device on his collar. "See, the Earthians didn't want to learn our language, so they left it up to us to craft our own human translators. It works both ways, so that we are able to understand you as well." He gave a little excited shimmy and added, "Well that, and I'm pretty fluent in your major languages. It's been a while since I got the chance to practice my skills on some new visitors! Earthains hardly visit us!"

Drama almost missed that "visitors", _plural_.

"So! Shall we get to business? May I have your name?"

Drama sat up, with some effort that worried the aliens, but managed to cough out, "Visitors? As in more than one? More than _me_?"

"Why yes," Maroon tilted his head. "Oh dear, I hope you haven't sustained any major head injuries that'll impact your memory. It'll become a problem if you can't tell us what all happened; paperwork and all that."

Drama paused, eyes going back to the occupied bed across the room. _'Purple...'_ she realized, the events leading up to the crash slowly catching up to her. She nodded her head at the bed and asked, "Is that Purple? Is he okay?"

Maroon laughed, patting at her leg. "Is that his name? Are humans named by color?" The other two aliens laughed along with him, which made Drama scowl in return. "Then yes, he was the only other person we could find at the crash site along with you. He's still unresponsive, but he has a heartbeat, and I can assure you that Lime here is a great medic and has been keeping a close eye on him," he smiled. "Well then, _Blue_ \- hehe- if you can remember that much, can you tell me how you came to crash at our planet? What happened to the rest of your crew, perhaps the ship number, your mission, commanding officer? Any of these ringing a bell?"

How they came to crashing... her crew... Drama leaned back as she attempted to remember, but felt a sudden pain shoot up her spine and her mind was instantly clouded. Any recollection of her time on the ship was blocked by static, and she frantically shook her head to shake the feeling away. "No, no nonono-"

The aliens all looked to each other in worry. "Hey, hey calm down!" Maroon reached out, taking her hands to settle her down. "Take it easy. If you can't answer questions right now, that's okay. We'll let you take time to recover for now, if you so wish. Just don't push yourself, alright?" This seemed to work, and so Drama calmed her breathing. "There you go. Try to keep a calm demeanor; we wouldn't want you running out of oxygen now, do we?"  
  
At this, Drama looked back to the tank to her side. "Our atmosphere may contain some oxygen, but you and your buddy are going to be hooked up to these until you get used to the environment. Which I assume you both will- it'll take quite some time before we can send the two of you back to Earth." Maroon stood up, giving a quick hand gesture to the other aliens. "I'll still need to draft up a proper report, so you just hang tight and recover. I'll be back some other time to continue our little chat, meanwhile Lime shall be attending to you, okay?" He gave Drama one last smile before waving goodbye, and walked out of the room with Gold and Lime in tow.

Now that she was alone, Drama readjusted herself to sit upright and look over to the other occupied bed. _'Purple...'_ she huffed. Of course he was the only other person found at the crash site. Everyone else was... they were already... Drama gently placed a hand to her head. The memories were still hazy, but she wasn't entirely convinced he would be able to pull through. They made an agreement before that ship went down: only one of them was going to make it out alive, and if she was here and breathing...

If only she could remember whether she did get to him, or the crash that did him in.

Either way, there was an unnerving feeling sitting at the pit of her stomach that made her not want to trust these aliens. She couldn't tell them what went down on that ship, she can't give herself away. Drama paused, the haziness coming back again, and she blinked the feeling away. She had to get off this planet- for their sake, she had to get back to Earth...

Just then, her stomach rumbled. _Hunger_ , the purest form of human instincts. This confirmed that she was very much alive and very much herself. It brought her a strange bit of comfort to know this, and so she slid back down into bed to rest for the time being. She just needed to recover, and from there, she could form a plan to get off this planet.  
  
___  
  
In the time it took Drama to recover, Lime did in fact make several checks on her as well as Purple- who had yet to wake. One by one, the curious crew mates came by to see the "miracle human", and Drama did all she could to remember their names, but it was simply easier to call them by their colors than to speak their language; meanwhile everyone stuck to calling her Blue, which was better than letting them know her real name. And then, Drama was finally permitted to get up and walk around. They even gave her a new blue suit, equipped with an portable oxygen filter to help her get accustomed to the atmosphere. Once she was ready, Maroon invited her over to the office, and there was everyone- clearly gathered for a party. They cheered upon her arrival, congratulating her recovery, and the party was on.

After Drama was done being bombarded by the others, she silently snuck out the side entrance to get a better look of their planet: rocky purple ground, a lava river being monitored by several machines, and in perfect contrast was the snow falling around her, gathering in the corners of the buildings and on roof tops. It was quite astounding.  
  
"Uh, ms human? Blue?" A voice called out from behind her, and when Drama turned, she spotted Cyan coming out- wearing a ridiculous party cowboy hat. "Whatcha doing out here sweetie? Don'tcha wanna party?"

Drama rolled her eyes. "No-" she stopped before remembering to turn on her translator. " _No_. Parties are not my thing. I have no reason to celebrate."

"Aw c'mon," Cyan clicked her tongue. "You have every reason to! You survived an awful crash and completely recovered! You're the miracle human!"

A hand flew to Drama's stomach; she looked to the laboratory where Purple still stayed. She just couldn't escape that feeling could she? "It's okay," Drama waved her free hand, "let the others party. I want to explore more of this place."

"Okay, your loss _Blue_! That just leaves more of that delicious party food to us!" Cyan laughed, tipping the hat at her. "See ya around!"

Drama waved goodbye- _"Oh trust me, I won't touch any of that food-"_ before taking this chance to book it and explore the base. Her mission? Assess the quality of their communications, their power generation, their lab equipment, all this so she could begin planning her way back to Earth. While the buildings themselves appeared second rate, their equipment sure wasn't- which was good news for Drama. She made her way back into the office, having spotted a library there, and gave a passing wave to the others before collecting some books that looked like they could provide some answers for... for...

Drama stopped, finding herself back in the medical bay without any recollection of walking there. When did she walk over? And why? She glanced down at the books in her hands and put them down, deciding instead to check up on Purple's progress.  
  
He was in terrible shape: the bruises and bloodstains still prevalent on his face, and an arm and leg wrapped in a casket. She remembered Lime telling her about a moment he almost coded, but thinking about his death sent a shiver up her spine. _'Why won't he just die...'_ a thought bubbled up. _'Why didn't he die at the ship?'_

She immediately stopped that train of thought and whisked it away, forcing herself to be more sympathetic. He was- more or less- a fine crewmate, no matter how much she envied his abilities. And yet, despite his best efforts to find the murderer, here he was on the brink of death while she was up and walking. "Guess it wasn't a well thought out plan Purple," she suddenly laughed. "Like fools, we let our emotions keep us from doing what must be done. And now here I stand, victorious." Leaning over, she made sure he could hear her even if he was unconscious. "You will _never_ outsmart me."

She waited for some sort of reaction, but when none was to be had, Drama snapped out of it and stood back up. The movement made her suddenly lightheaded, and so she carefully made her way back out of the building, forgetting the things she brought with her, and _wanting_ to forget what just went down.  
___  
  
The days went by without a hitch, Drama becoming fully integrated into the crew. Maroon had managed to get another interrogation- correction, _interview_ \- and Drama told him that it had just been Purple and her on the ship as it was meant to be a test run, but that it had been in poor maintenance from the start, and ran out of gas when they came upon their planet. He didn't bother her much afterwards.

She got to be put in charge of their power system, improving their energy converter and perfecting it. She had free access to their library and research data, and with special permission, Drama was to be finally allowed into their specimen room. Two of the crewmates, Black and White, lead the way through the lab, filling her in about the different things they had been studying. "I think you'll find it fascinating!" White laughed. "There's quite a few subspecies we've discovered on our planet, and right now we're looking into getting funding for traveling to other nearby planets for species research!"

"It's about as fascinating as watching bubbles float in a tube," Black joked, shoving his friend. "He always over exaggerates on these kinds of things."

"And you always under simplify my research!" White playfully pulled at Black's horns. "Just because they put me in charge of it doesn't mean you have to be so grumpy about it!"

Drama chuckled to herself as she followed behind. From what she learned, they got along quite well despite being so different. Nothing like her own crew mates...  
The thought was instantly dismissed as she almost bumped into them. They were stopped just short of the entrance to their decontamination room, looking dead ahead at the beds in medbay. When Drama looked around them, she felt her blood run cold. There sat Purple, putting on his brand new suit with the help of Lime. He glanced over at the group that gathered, and froze too when he spotted Drama.

Sidestepping them, Drama walked on over to him, eyes locked, and stopped just short of getting in Lime's way. Her throat felt dry, unable to find the words to express exactly what she was feeling. Shock for sure, but anything else? She just couldn't.

"Drama-" Purple whispered, and that was enough to spark a reaction out of her.  
  
" _Blue_ ," she corrected and squared her shoulders. "Welcome to the land of the living. You're... a few weeks late."

Purple looked between her and the rest of the aliens- who looked to him curiously. His gaze dragged back to Drama and he nodded slowly. "Right... thanks. You're looking well. Made your move yet?"

Lime cut in between them, giving him his oxygen tank for the suit and helping him connect it. Drama simply watched, feeling a rising anger be reawakened in her. He was _taunting_ her. They were both alive. This threw a wrench into her plans, and now she had to reconfigure her escape plan to keep him out of it.  
Once all was set, Purple stood and stretched a little; he recovered miraculously in the time she had been avoiding the place. "Well," he sighed, clicking on the translator on his suit, "where are you all headed to? I'm in the mood for a bit of a walk."

White threw an unsure glance over to Lime, unwilling to let another outsider have a look at their precious findings, but Black was more than willing to have him along for the ride. "The specimen room. It's just right here. Is that alright doc?" he directed at Lime.

As they pulled aside the aliens to discuss, Drama took her place next to Purple to have their own conversation. "What do you think you're _doing_?" she asked, gritting her teeth.

"I could ask the same of you!" he whispered. "I thought I was the only one to come out of this alive, and yet here _you_ are, all jolly with some aliens."

"What does it matter to you? I thought you would have _died_!" Drama said. "Besides, they're from the same space program, so don't even start with those conspiracy theories of yours."  
  
They watched on in silence, listening to their strange language. Drama bit her lip; if they got to questioning him, he just might sell her out for his own survival. She'll need to find a way to get rid of him - no! What was she _thinking_? Drama tried to subtly knock the thought out of her head, but Purple caught on and threw her a side glance.

"Okay!" White sighed, waving to the two humans. "You can come with, newbie. But no touching! We only trust _Blue_ with our stuff."

" _They_ only trust her," Black rolled his eyes. "I wanna claim this miracle human for myself." They laughed to each other- which made Purple uncomfortable- and the group headed into decontamination while Lime went to go report to Maroon.  
  
Heading down the hall, Drama caught a glimpse of a large tube with a strange creature inside it, and instantly she felt a stirring motion in her brain and her legs. She immediately ran past everyone to get a good look at it: an embryotic looking creature floating in a blue liquid- it surely was a sight to behold. The others caught up and White began their presentation. "These are actually some foreign poisonous creatures that invaded our planet not too long ago. They were all almost wiped out, but we were allowed special access to one and find out where they came from. We've also been put in charge of finding an antidote to the poisonous effect it has, just in case of a doomsday scenario where these escape and get loose, or we get invaded again."

Black scoffed. "Didn't have to go and tell them _that_ much, Dr 'I don't trust anyone with my precious research'."  
  
The aliens walked around, checking up on some of the computers in the room, and Purple strolled on up to Drama, noting how intrigued she was with the creature. Perhaps _too_ intrigued; she was absolutely entranced. "Drama?" He tapped her shoulder, being mindful of keeping his voice low.

She immediately whipped back at him with a snarl. " _What_?"

"I'm pretty sure you know what," he said. "Listen, you need to catch me up on all that's happened. Why are we here? How have you not gone berserk yet?" He paused, leaning down to ensure the others didn't hear. "Do you still plan on killing me?"

Drama clenched her fist, being careful to stand straight and get him to back off. She had been trying not to think of it, but now that he had gone and stirred the pot- "I don't _know_ ," she said, tense. "I haven't had much time to do anything. And honestly, I don't know yet if I even want to-!" She paused when the other aliens looked over at them. A small wave was given before whispering again, "I'm... mostly here. I've learned a lot though, and part of me wants to believe I can... that I can find a way to kill off this parasite-"

As soon as she uttered those words, Drama felt an intense pain in her stomach, incredibly similar to what she felt on the ship before she lost her mind. She keeled over, trying to grip the table for balance. Purple stepped forward to catch her, and the others jumped into action as well, but Drama swung her arm out and swatted them away. "No!" She screamed. "Stay back!"

"What, why?" White asked. "You're in pain right? Let us help you!"

"No!" She pushed, staring at them in fear. "You have to- you have to get away from-" she tried. But the more she wanted to warn them and tell them to leave, the closer she got, stepping closer and closer. Eventually, she reached a hand out for White, who willingly helped her stand up.

"Easy there, take it easy now," White said.

Drama stopped for a brief moment, slowly looking up at the arm that helped her up, then to White's trusting face. Her stomach grumbled, and slowly removed her visor to show a smile upon her face; a look Purple was all too familiar with. "Wait, no! Get away from her-!" He shouted, but not even a second later did she open her mouth and an inhumane tongue shot out and stabbed straight through White's neck. They gasped, choking as blood began to spill, and Drama slowly retracted the tongue. They all stood silently in utter shock, watching as White slowly stumbled to the floor, body twitching out and losing any life in their eyes. Black stared at Drama in horror, taking a shaky step back, and opening their mouth to scream-  
However, Purple was quick to act and immediately took Black's head in his hands and snapped it with all his might.

At this, it was Drama's turn to look at him in shock, finally snapping out of her murderous haze.

"Oh... shit..." Purple gasped, throwing Black to the side in horror. " _Shit_! What have I done?!"

"Purple..." Drama gaped, looking between the two bodies and back at him. "Oh my god..."

Terrified, Purple began to pace around the room, wanting to put distance between him and what he'd just done. "Why did I have to go and do that?!" He muttered to himself. "Damn it, why am I _protecting_ you?! What have I done..."

Again Drama looked to the bodies and crouched down, seeing the betrayal that was last left on their faces. "Purple..." She uttered again, and he snapped at her.

"For fuck's sake, I have a name you know!?" he shouted.

"...What?"

Purple palmed his face, shaking it in disbelief. "Dang it, I freaking snap an alien's neck for you and you don't even remember my name," he huffed. He walked back over to her, unable to look at the body he killed. "No one's here, and it just sounds stupid to hear you call me Purple."

A small chuckle escaped Drama, carefully lifting the arm of her kill. "Okay then, what is it?"

Purple grimaced. How could she stand to mess with the bodies. "... It's Emilio."

Drama stayed silent, trying to quiet the grumbling of her stomach as she dropped White's arm. The thoughts running through her mind were repulsive, so she quickly stood up and wiped off her hands. "Okay then... Emilio. I'll be honest, you really surprised me there. I didn't expect you to be so quick with the follow up, but I am eternally grateful."

"Oh stuff it," Emilio waved her off and turned his back to her. "It was a spur of the moment decision, and unfortunately it's one in your favor. It's not like I wanted to..." He fiddled with his fingers, cracking them in a nervous habit. "But it's also like I can't let you get caught and take me down with you."

  
"Oh really?" Drama chuckled, walking towards him. She hummed to herself, trying to inspect him by walking around to look at his face. He looked upset, unsettled, traumatized; something was definitely amiss. "Tell me Emilio," she smiled menacingly, "What happened while you were out? What _changed_ from the ship to now?"

Emilio threw her a cold glare; he was already upset about who it was he just killed- he was not about to let her shake his nerves again. " _Nothing_." He turned away from her again, finally forcing himself to look at the bodies. "Stop stalling. If the sane part of you is still there, then pull yourself together and help me figure out how we're going to deal with this situation. I don't even want to know what they'll do to us if we get caught."

With a huff, Drama walked back over to the bodies and crouched down to lift White. She paused for a moment, trying to keep from unleashing her less savory instincts, before nodding back at Emilio. "Well lucky for you, I had an emergency plan put in place, just in case I did lose it earlier. Take your body and follow me."

Despite desperately not want to, Emilio knew he'd have to trust her here. They needed to fly under the radar... but the moment things start looking even remotely bad for him-

"Emilio!" Drama snapped to pull his attention. "Move it or lose it. And by lose it, I mean your life. You either help me, or I get rid of you, simple as that."

"Ah," he sighed, moving to lift Black's body and keep from buckling under the guilt. "So that's the answer to my question then."

"Look, I'm just trying to be direct so you know when it's the parasite talking-" she adjusted the body onto her shoulder, leading out towards the lab, "or me..."

_'Which part of her is talking now?'_ Emilio pondered, following her out. At least now, he knows to begin formulating a plan to get himself out of this mess scotch free.

Shortly after, the two disposed of the bodies into the lava river just outside of the lab and got to cleaning up their mess. They left out into the office, unseen by anyone, and promised each other to keep this silent. Emilio vowed that he wasn't going to kill anyone else for her, despite Drama's constant pleading. _'It's not her,'_ he told himself, _'and it's unlike me to allow this to go any further. This time was just an accident.'_

They went on their way, and eventually Emilio too under went the process Drama went through to be a part of the crew, passing with flying colors.

___

It was only a few days later when Drama and Emilio were called to the main office, striking a pang of fear in both of theirs hearts. They briefly met up with each other, giving a knowing glance, and whispered amongst each other. "So, still sticking to that 'no more killing' rule of yours?" Drama asked. "We might need to, to get out of this."

"I'm not helping you with any more of your dirty deeds," Emilio hissed. "If we're being called in to interrogate, just know I'm not sticking my neck out for you. I'll sell you out."

"Hah, that's where you _think_ you're safe," Drama laughed, lowering her voice as they spotted Maroon waiting for them by the office doors. "I've been welcomed by them, they trust me. You just got accepted as one of them. You're smart enough to know what this means if you turn on me, right?"

Greeting Maroon, the two silently followed in- all the while Emilio stared daggers into Drama's back. The three quickly stopped by a computer set up on a table, and Maroon beamed brightly at them. "Alright newbies! Welcome to the next bit of your integration! Well, it's mostly a training moment for Purple since he'll be in charge of this-" he chuckled, "but this is our vitals station! It's pretty old, since this was implemented when this space station was constructed, and it's well do for another update, but I'm going to show you how it works!"

Immediately, Drama and Emilio stared at each other in sudden realization.

"Our suits are also equipped with a heartbeat sensor- incredibly useful if say we travel off base and get lost. Helps the rest of us know we're still alive and kicking!" he laughed. "As well as alert us to any sort of illness we may contract. It's a great system." Reaching into his pocket, Maroon pulled out an id card and quickly swiped it into the machine, booting it up. "We're going to add you two to the system! Isn't that just..." Maroon paused, staring at the screen, "wonderful..."

Emilio clamped his mouth shut, motioning for Drama to say something. "What? Is something up?" she asked, keeping her voice steady.

Maroon tapped the screen a few times, giving the mouse another couple of clicks. "Yes..." he muttered, fingers flying on the keyboard and forcing a restart. "I think maybe this thing is finally busted... it's showing two of our crewmates as disconnected..."

"Disconnected?" she continued, taking a step closer to watch the screen as it booted up. Sure enough, after Maroon swiped his card and displayed the vitals, Black and White's icons came up as 'DC': disconnected.

Standing up straight, nearly knocking into Drama, Maroon rushed over to the next room and the other two followed him. He flipped open a panel to a button on the center of the table, ready to press, when Drama tried to stop him. "Wait! What's going on? What is that?"

"This-" Maroon looked at them, a frown finally plastered on that overcheery face of his, "is the emergency button. It sends out an alert to everyone on base to bring them to meet here. It'll be the first time in a while since we've needed to press it but-" Maroon slammed down on the button, an alarm blaring overhead, "this is _definitely_ an emergency."

Shortly after the button was called, all the other crewmates made their way into the office, muttering nervously amongst themselves. This was a first that Emilio was getting to see some of them, and it just now dawned on him how much of a disadvantage he was if he wanted to sell Drama out. He looked to her now, waving to all of them, and scowled. How thoroughly screwed he was.

Once everyone was settled, Maroon looked around and noticed that the crewmates he needed to see weren't there. He let out a sighed, then raised a hand to silence everyone. "Fellow brethren, we have a very pressing matter on our hands. Just prior to this meeting, I had taken these two humans here to the vitals station to be inputted into the system, when I discovered that Black and White's icons weren't lit up. They were displayed as disconnected..."

Everyone gasped, looking around the room and at Drama, who nodded as though to agree.

"And clearly, as evidenced by this meeting, they aren't here..." he sighed, closing his eyes as though pained to even suggest this next bit. "I must ask, for formalities sake, who has seen them last?"

For a moment, a few aliens spoke up, overlapping each other until Maroon reminded them of their translators and told them to report one at a time. Lime raised a hand, keeping a steady glare at Drama and Emilio. "Last saw them with humans. Headed to specimens after given permission. Few day cycles ago."

This didn't phase Drama at all, in fact, she was ready with a response. Not like they hadn't gone through this once before. "That's right," she frowned, stepping forward. "A few days ago, Black and White accompanied Purple and I into the specimen room. They gave us a brief tour, and then something came up and they told us to leave immediately, so we did. That place is top secret, so I assume there was something going on that they didn't want us to see. But unfortunately, that was the last time we saw them, as we split up to do our duties."

There was a bit more muttering before Cyan raised a hand to add onto their stories. "Depending on how long ago this was, it might not have been the last sighting of them two. I also remember a couple o' days ago, I was with Black overseeing the dropship for repairs."

"You guys have a ship?" Drama asked. "Like, a working rocket ship?"

"It's just a delivery ship," Maroon explained. "Not like the ones you came crashing in on. How about White? Anyone else remember their last sighting of him?"

"I was last with White manning the blaster in Weapons," Gold spoke, ducking his head. "That was ages ago though."

Maroon frowned even more, leaning onto the table and balling up his fists. Emilio caught sight of this, and looked to Drama to see if she noticed as well. But she wasn't looking at him; instead, Drama lifted her head and assumed her typical leadership position. "Well, let's not lose hope everyone. Those two must be around here somewhere. This is a fairly big base, so I can understand why some of you haven't been keeping tabs on each other. We shall split off in pairs, and sweep the premises. If they are not to be found on site, then may I suggest a sweep off base? Perhaps they wandered off to be alone?"

"They wouldn't..." Maroon huffed, standing up straight. "It's unlike them to go rouge. Sure, it's likely they're still together, but they both respect my authority. They wouldn't just wander off..."

All fell silent for a moment, save for the gossipy whispers of Green and Grey. "Perhaps they were finally sick of him as leader and went on a romantic getaway," Grey whispered.

"I'm sorry, does this look like a time for jokes?" Maroon glared at Grey. "Do you think this is funny?"

Grey raised up their mits in self defense. "I'm just saying. You only think they aren't like that because they sucked up to you to gain control over the specimens lab. They didn't _really_ see you as their leader-"

"Okay!" Emilio spoke, moving to Maroon's side and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Look, I don't want to step on anyone's toes and demand order-"

_'Liar,'_ Drama thought to herself.

"But something is clearly not right. Just listen to your man here, and let's do the sweep as Blue suggested, okay?"

The other aliens looked unsure of him, but ultimately nodded. Maroon looked back at Emilio gratefully, then turned to everyone and assigned pairs. "Okay then, I'll look after the purple newbie. I want Blue and Lime to pair up, Cyan and Green to pair up, and then Gold and Grey stick together. Everyone spread out, and check every corner. I'm counting on you all."

And with that, the aliens shuffled out of the room. Grey threw a scoff over at Emilio, slipping in a silent, "Suck up," before leaving with his pair. Drama and Emilio shared a look- Drama's being a suggestive "You know what you have to do", and Emilio's being a warning "Don't you dare"- before they too left with their partners and began their search.

* * *

> No one was ejected. (Skipped)

* * *

Heading over to the dropship first, Lime made sure to keep a close eye on Drama, which she was fully aware of. Those charcoal eyes of theirs made it hard for Drama to settle her nerves, and she was fairly certain that they must suspect her the most. She tried to ignore it for a bit, pretending to look around the ship, but ultimately gave in and turned to face them. "Okay," she huffed, "you got something to say to me or are you going to help?"

Lime paused, facing her head on as well. "I have question."

"Spill then," Drama said.

Lime crossed their arms behind their back and began to pace. "You and purple human were last with crewmate Black and White. I look for them after you finish tour, but no where to be found, not even in sleeping quarters. It definitely not like them to disappear."

Drama silently swore to herself. She guessed correctly, Lime was absolutely suspicious of them.

"Also," they continued, stopping their pacing, "when you crash... purple human looked very badly hurt, very realistic of crash victim. Yet, you? Not so much. Why is that?"

So nosy... Drama took a shaky breath and headed out of the ship with Lime hot on their trail. Why _did_ she come out of it unscathed? She most certainly should have been as badly injured as Emilio, and yet... she was up weeks before he was. Could this have been because... because of the parasite inside her? Drama paused for a moment, realizing they had walked to behind the electrical building, cornering her near the edge where their reactor tower stood. Lime kept their distance, but pressed on with the questioning. "How you explain that?"

How to explain it indeed. Slowly turning around, Drama looked into those charcoal eyes of Lime, noticing that they bore a smug grin about them. They probably knew something that Drama didn't, so she couldn't possibly lie... or could she? She chuckled to herself, a chuckle that turned into full blown out laughter, and faced them head on. "Well Lime, where should I _start_?"

___

Meanwhile, just across the way, Maroon and Emilio searched through the lab building, finding no one else inside. Maroon sighed, sitting down on the floor while Emilio took to looking at their equipment. "What am I going to do?" he muttered to himself. He watched Emilio curiously tap at the screen where they kept their medical vials, and spoke more directly to him. "Human, I... I wish to thank you for what you did back there. For having my side. I truly appreciate it."

Emilio looked back to him, slightly shocked, but nodded. "Uh, sure. It's no problem." He moved to examine their telescope, fiddling with it before choosing instead to hold conversation. "What was that grey suit alien talking about? She was kind of an ass, considering you're their leader."

Maroon laughed. "That they are... but it's complicated." Getting up now, he leaned on the wall and gestured to his face. "As you've probably noticed, I resemble that of an abnormal human. However _because_ of my human qualities, i was presented with a lot of opportunities: being the face of this program on Polus, being promoted to leader, gaining the favor of Earthians; but I also faced a lot of... i believe the word is discrimination."

That didn't sound surprising at all to Emilio. "People envied you because you rose through the ranks without any restrictions."

"They envied me because I looked human," Maroon corrected. "Even my own alien brethren looked down on me. Grey was one of those aliens. She believed she deserved the position as leader... and quite honestly, I think so too. Had it not been for my appearance, I'm sure she would have been leader. She's way more skillful than I."

The two fell silent for a moment, Emilio thinking about his similar situation with Drama. She wanted to be head pilot, but he swiped it right from under her, simply because he knew someone in the recruitment team. She had every right to be angry with him, and just to appease her, they made her team leader. It was all very scuffed.

"I see..." Emilio sighed. "I get where you're coming from though. That must have sucked, to not be respected by your own team."

"It most definitely sucked," Maroon laughed. "But eventually most my team eased into it. We're pretty close knit now, even Grey. At least, I think she likes me?"

Emilio shook his head, patting the leader's arm and motioning for them to continue their search. _'Even aliens are scum to each other'_ , he thought, giving Maroon a side glance. _'And even worse scumbags to humans. Guess i shouldn't trust them at this point...'_

The two stepped out of the laboratory, heading straight for the storage room, when suddenly the lights shut off. The outside was swallowed in darkness. They looked up at the floodlights around the base, and Maroon swore something in a language Emilio didn't know, and pushed a separate button on his collar to contact his crewmates. "Wait where you are, I am nearest to the lights to fix them." When there was no response, he sighed and patted Emilio's back. "Whelp, guess it's up to us to fix this situation. The electrical building is just straight ahead, so don't stray too far from the path."

"Right," Emilio said, heart thumping in his ears. And so, they headed off, their eyes getting slightly adjusted to the darkness. Maroon overrode the doors to Electrical to open them manually and headed in. Just when Emilio was about to follow, he heard a thud on the side of the building. He looked to Maroon, thought "screw it", and walked around to check it out. As he got close, he kicked into something heavy and nearly stumbled over it. However as he looked down, he realized what it was and gasped.

"Emilio..." Drama's voice rang out just ahead of him, and he looked up to see her come into vision. "Good to see you. Where's you're partner?"

"Drama?" he asked, stepping away. "What... did _you_ do this?"

She laughed, crouching down to poke Lime's body. "Well yeah, what do you think? They were getting close to figuring us out, so I thought I'd fill them in on what really went down."

"You _told_ them?" He asked. "And then killed them for the fun of it?! You really _are_ sick... there's no hope of finding that antidote is there? Of... saving you?"

Drama frowned, looking from the body to him. Was she really that far gone? Could she really not distinguish her real self from the parasite? As she kept reflecting on this, the lights suddenly turned back on, making her reel back in pain from the sudden exposure. Definitely not a humane reaction.

From within the building, they could hear Maroon calling for Emilio, and they both stared at each other in horror. "You didn't _kill_ him?!" Drama hissed, not moving from her spot.

"No I didn't kill him!" Emilio whispered. "I told you! I wasn't going to go along with your stupid plans! Fucking, _do_ something! Throw the body over the side, hide, _anything_ -!" he ushered, but the moment he turned around, there was Maroon, practically pale in the face. Emilio could feel his feet stuck in place, trying to utter out an excuse, but Drama beat him to it.

"H-help me!" she screamed, shuffling away from them and the body. "He killed Lime right in front of me! And now he's trying to kill me!"

Emilio whipped back at her, utterly betrayed. So this was it; this was where she was going to get rid of him. He turned back to Maroon and shook his head. "No, no don't listen to her! It's not what it looks like, I swear!"

"Purple..." Maroon whispered. That terrified look in his eyes told Emilio that he was indeed going to take her word for this. "How... how could you..."

"No, _listen_ , it wasn't me!" he tried again, but the moment it looked like he was going to run to report to the others, Emilio charged at him, tackling him to the ground. Maroon struggled, trying to get his arms off and get a good swing in, but it was narrowly avoided and met with a much more swift punch to the face. Emilio tried to keep his arms from moving while also trying not to hurt him any further. "Stop- fighting and just _listen_!"

"You imposter!" Maroon spat in his face. "Traitor! Unhand me! You'll pay for what you've done!"

"I said it wasn't! _Me_!" Emilio swung at him again, drawing blood from Maroon's broken nose. "You stupid alien! If you'd just get it through that thick head of yours-!" And another blow.

"Ugh _honestly_ ," Drama finally said, getting up and standing over the two. She wiped away the blood from her mouth. "Emilio, just be done with this and get rid of him."

"You...?" Maroon coughed, looking between the two. "Heh... the two humans. _Outsiders_. I should have known better... you really can't trust Earthians."

"Oh shut up already!" Emilio stood up, keeping a foot to Maroon's chest. "I can't stand sob stories. Especially from the likes of you." He quickly turned to Drama and snarled. "And _you_ , to think you'd throw me under the bus-!"

Drama laughed, getting close to his face. "So what? What are you going to do? Are you really going to let this alien rat you out? Don't you want to get off this planet?" At this, Emilio paused and stared down to Maroon. "Do you want to meet the same fate as the two we already killed? Like the rest of our friends? Clearly you have some reason for living, if you managed to live through that crash."

The crash... Emilio peered out over the side of the cliff, out at the vast land of the strange planet. She's right. If they get caught here and now, there's no guarantee he'd be able to get back home, and especially not with the way Drama was acting now. He needed some time to figure a way out, and save his hide. Just as he was about to make his move, Maroon knocked Emilio's leg out from under him. In the short time he attempted his escape, Emilio jumped after him, pulled back his arm, and tossed Maroon over the cliff. The two humans watched as he stumbled down into the darkness, lost forever.

" _Shit_..." Emilio swore, turning away so he didn't have to face the other dead body and the surely unsettling smile that Drama bore.

She laid a hand on his shoulder and chuckled. "Well done. You know, you're really good at this- these spur of the moment kills. We really _should_ be working together-"

"I want nothing to do with you," Emilio scowled. "You tricked me. I thought you were still the person I knew but... you're nothing but a monster now."

"And yet, you're still gonna use _my_ help to survive, aren't you?" She said, letting him hear the smile in her voice . "See, I've got this whole thing planned out. I _control_ this base, I know how to get out. You can't outsmart me- you _need_ me."

Emilio tensed up, shaking her hand off of him. The parasite was taunting him. It had her knowledge, her memories, and was using it to their advantage. "Look..." he started, completely ashamed he was still holding out for her, "I hate to admit it, but you've got me beat, okay? I'm at a huge disadvantage here. I do want to get home... But level with me for a second: why do _you_? Why are you doing... _any_ of this?"

Drama stepped back for a moment, intrigued by his question. She hadn't really given it much thought before. "I guess..." she sighed, "I'm just following my host's wishes. She wants to go home to Earth. She wants to survive. You're both making it really hard to execute my _own_ plan but..." she shrugged, pushing past him to walk away, "it's mutually beneficial. I'll kill anyone that gets in our way. So you're either with me, or against me."

He watched her walk away, pulling out a device from her pocket and pressing a button on it. Instantly the alarms began to blare, and the reactor lights on the tower began to flash red. Emilio stared at Lime's body still beside him, and he quickly rushed over to follow Drama, knowing she was trying to frame him again. _'Fine,'_ he huffed, _'I've no choice to work with her... for now.'_

Quickly, they walked over to the right reactor tower, Drama opening up a panel and fixing the sabotage. They waited to see if anyone else would show up, and sure enough, in came Gold with a worried look on his face. "I sent Grey to the other tower, what's going on guys-" and in an instant, Drama removed her helmet's visor and killed him with that same inhumane tongue, piercing him through the heart. His body was shoved over the side, much to Emilio's shock.

"What?" Drama shrugged. "Like i said, I have a plan. Now c'mon. We're heading back to the office." Quick she was to walk away, ignoring the fact that the alarms stopped and that Emilio grit his teeth at her. He could only hope this would work.

___

Soon after the reactor meltdown, all the other crewmates began to head into the office to reconvene, the air growing tense as they realized there were so few left of them: just Grey, Blue, Purple, Cyan, and Green. Cyan nervously kept glancing out at the window, hoping for their crewmates to show up, Grey looked absolutely bored, and Green was too worked up to stay still. "Something's not right," they said, pacing around the room. "What the hell is happening? Where's everyone else?"

"Weren't we all supposed to stick in teams?" Cyan asked. "Where's yall's buddies?"

Grey watched the two humans closely as Drama sighed, nervously wringing her hands. "Lime and I split up when the reactor went out. They trusted me to the right tower while they took charge of the left."

"How about you?" Grey turned to Emilio.

"I..." he looked to Drama for some sort of sign, but thought better of it and sighed. He can't rely on her; he needed to use what he knew to make an opening for himself. "I don't know. We were in lab when the lights went out. He tried to put out a call, saying he was going to go fix the lights, and left me in lab just to be safe. After that, he never came back, and that's where I stayed until reactor was called.

" _Bull_ ," Grey scoffed. Emilio threw her a glare, and she stared back.

"Grey?" Cyan spoke, "What about you? Where's Gold?"

"Hell if I know!" she huffed. "Dude was so jumpy he ran off towards the right reactor tower. I went and fixed the left." She clammed up afterwards, looking down and away from them.

Drama saw this and used it to her advantage. "Grey? You got something on your mind? You're looking a little... _nervous_."

Grey immediately wiped the emotion from their face and stared at her, unamused. "Actually _yes_. I need to report that... that Lime's dead. Their body was at the left tower."  
  
"No..." Green gasped, stopping their pacing.

"D-dead?" Drama covered her mouth. It took everything in Emilio to keep from laughing; she was being quite the actor right now.

"Oh don't talk like that-" Grey said, pointing a finger at Drama. "If anything, I think that you're the one that killed them! You traitorous human!"

"Me?!" She scoffed. "Why would it be me?! Lime saved _my life_! And I went to fix the right tower, how could I have committed the kill?!"

"Yeah, Grey, you're not making much sense..." Cyan walked over and gently pulled at her arm. "How could you go and accuse her like that?"

"Actually..." Emilio spoke up, placing his hands on the table and trying to hide a smirk, "while i was out with Maroon, he gave me some pretty useful information that could help crack this case wide open." Everyone turned to him, nervously holding their breath. "If- god forbid- we were to assume that your leader is... _dead_... that makes Grey the top suspect for the rest of everyone's disappearances."

"Oh really now, _human_?" Grey rolled her eyes. "Do tell how _I_ of all beings, am the one responsible for this."

"Maroon told me a little story about how envious you were, jealous that he was promoted to leader and not you!" he said. "He told me how much you hated him- that you would have done anything but suck up to him to get what you wanted. And i'll bet my life that you wanted his position as leader, and got rid of him!"

The others gasped while Grey simply frowned. " _Wow_ , what a story. Now I'm convinced it's both you humans. Besides, just as Blue said, why would _I_ dare to pull something like that, especially against the rest of my crewmates."

"To be fair... you did make a similar no proof accusation..." Green pointed out. Grey threw a snarl in their direction, making them flinch. Even Cyan began to step away from them.

"Well, we can assume that Cyan and Green never left each other's side, so then they couldn't have been the ones to commit any of these kills," Drama stepped forward, nodding to Emilio as a sign that she picked up what he was trying to do.

"And how would _you_ know?" Grey looked back to Drama. "For all we know, maybe those two could be covering for each other!" Instantly, they all clamored over each other, Grey only waving at them dismissively. "I'm just saying! I can't trust any of you!"

"Quiet!" Drama slammed the table, gaining all their attention again. "Look, we need to approach this cautiously. We aren't leaving this room until the person responsible is found and dealt with!"

"Well you know what _I_ think?!" Grey leaned into the table as well. "Everything was all fine and dandy before you two humans showed up! The rest of us have spent a large chunk of our years together, so it's completely stupid that one of us went and killed our friends!"

"Well you'd _certainly_ love if it was us two, wouldn't you Grey!?" Drama argued. "You had the motive! And I can tell you with certainty that I'm innocent!"

"Oh no..." Green suddenly whispered, eyes staring wide open at Emilio, as the others turned to attention.

"What is it?" Cyan asked.

"If... If we're going by timing," Green backed up into the wall, still staring at Emilio, "then realistically, the one most likely to have done it... is Purple!"

Everyone froze. Emilio could slowly feel all eyes turned on him and it made his heart drop.

"Blue could have taken out any one of us while she was being recruited. It wasn't until we started seeing Purple around that Black and White went missing..."

"Now now now, wait a second-!" Emilio stepped up to argue, but this was the perfect time for Drama to strike.

"You know what?" She paused, making sure the others were watching her. "I think you're onto something Green."

"I _am_?"

Emilio shot her a glare. "They _are_?!"

"Yes!" She continued. "Shortly after I last left Black and White in the specimen room, I could have sworn I saw him head back into the office, and presumably back to those two. And just now as I fixed the reactor tower, I had seen him coming from the left side... where Grey discovered the body..."

Emilio drew in a sharp breath, cueing the other's reactions. _'Oh that bitch-'_ "Oh _real_ smart Drama! Suddenly turning on me when the going got rough- I should never trust a liar!"

The aliens looked to each other, confused now. "...Drama?" They muttered to themselves.

Drama herself had broken face, her smile strained. "Emilio..." She whispered through clenched teeth, " _what's this_?"

"I'm putting an end to this whole thing right now!" He announced, reaching for his boot and pulling out a hidden gun to point at Drama. The other three scattered away from them, screaming. "Listen up you aliens!" Emilio spoke, keeping his hands steady. "Trust me or not, but Drama has been lying to you this entire time. She's not who she says she is, and if you give me a chance, I'll clear this whole thing up. Then do with me as you wish."

"What fucking choice do we have," Grey grumbled, standing in front of their crewmates. "You have a weapon."

Drama slowly chuckled, partly in disbelief but mostly amused. "Oh Emilio, what chaos are you planning to stir now?"

" ** _Silence_** ," he readjusted his grip. "I'm tired of your string pulling, and I'm not about to die over something _you_ did!" He looked to the others and told them, "Our names are Emilio and Drama. We crash landed our ship because... because I intended for us to _die_ in that crash." The others gasped, and he turned his attention back on Drama. "Our friends were brutally murdered by one of our own, and as it turned out, Drama killed the last few survivors because she has a parasite living inside her; a parasite meaning to kill us all as well!"

"Wh-what?!" Green gasped, looking to Grey for support. "A parasite? What are you saying?!"

"Yeah, what the hell is all this?!" Grey added. "You meant to die in that crash?!"

"Yes," he frowned. "I couldn't live with the guilt of letting our friends be murdered without vengence, so I meant to take both of us down. But after I came to in your medbay, Lime told me about how you guys found us. They questioned me about Drama-"

"And that's why that conniving bitch looked so smug!" Drama scoffed. She was way too casual about Emilio pointing the gun at her face. "They knew from the start! Guess I was right in killing them after all."

"So it _was_ you!" Grey said.

"Of _course_ it was me!" She laughed, "but it was also _him_!" Drama waved her arm out to Emilio, then left it hanging in offering to him. "C'mon Emilio, you're not gonna go down with me? Since _clearly_ that's your plan."

Emilio tensed up, tightening his grip on the trigger. "Shut up. I'm done listening to you. The first time was only because I thought my crew mate was still in there, fighting to regain control. But the second time, you tricked me into. I'm done lying, I'm done covering for you..." He sighed, loosening his grip. "I just want this to be over with."

The two fell silent, leaving the aliens awestruck for what was happening before them. They were... fessing up? "So," Grey spoke, stepping forward but still keeping a protective arm over their friends, "I'm right. You both killed our friends."

Neither of them spoke, Drama keeping a smug silence as she had nothing to say, and Emilio feeling ashamed. Finally, Green spoke up, sparking yet another tense moment: "What are we gonna do with them?"

Grey thought it over for a moment, feeling a bit conflicted. They were both dangerous, but Purple was willing enough to turn himself in. Blue... seemed unwilling. "Well..." They started, "if you're going to kill someone, then you must be willing to die yourself; a life for a life."

"Oh, Emilio won't kill me!" Drama broke out in laughter. "This is exactly what happened last time! His measly little feelings got in the way! That's why he was hoping the crash would kill us instead! Even now, his conflicted emotions about me was the reason he _killed_ for me!" To try and prove a point, she looked to move closer to him, but Emilio pulled back the safety latch and took aim.

"I _won't_ make that same mistake."

She raised her eyebrows and slowly looked around the room. Nothing to use for her advantage. She could kill him then and there, but the issue was oxygen and an escape route. Perhaps she could stall... "You think that'd work on me? I could reach you from here, you know. You don't stand a chance-"

And before she could even blink, Green had pushed past their friend and tackled Drama to the ground. She was too stunned to react, before they yanked off her helmet and pulled at the tube connecting her to the oxygen tank. Drama gasped, and began to choke as the air around her filled her lungs. Green immediately jumped off and was pulled back by Grey, Emilio having put the safety back on and backing away. They watched as she flailed around, grasping at her suit, her throat, anything and everywhere to get in reach of the disconnected tube, but she was losing consciousness fast. Drama flailed and kicked, only noises coming from her. Her eyes found Emilio's and for a second, it was just her- _her_ eyes calling out for him- and he could feel a pang of guilt and uncertainty run through him. But it was too late. Drama gasped out one final breath, then her body fell limp. The only sound left was that of the hissing of escaped oxygen, and even then no one made a move until the tank was completely out as well.

Then quietly, a silent sniffle coming from Cyan. Green sliding down the wall next to them. Grey standing up straight. Emilio sighing and moving to place the gun on the table. He held his hands up in surrender and stepped away to show his peace. The aliens looked to each other, Cyan and Green nodding to their new leader, and Grey took the gun and pocketed it.

"Okay then...?" Emilio tilted his head. "Aren't you... going to arrest me?"

Grey sighed and shook her head. "Honestly? I don't really care. I want this to be over too. We aren't even well equipped to hold prisoners either so..." she shrugged. "I mean, unless you guys have any ideas?"

Cyan and Green both shook their head, traumatized from Drama's death.

"Good. Well um, we'll leave you to be Earth's problem then..." Grey looked back to Emilio, shocked by this casual decision.

"You're going to let me go? After all that?" he asked, dropping his hands.

"Look, do you _want_ me to change my mind?!" Grey huffed. They kicked at Drama's body and thought for a moment. "How about you tie her up. We'll just dispose of her body over by the lava river. I'll take you to where the rope is," she said, and patted the gun at her side. Emilio nodded; this was not a suggestion.

And so Grey sent the other two to collect Lime's body while they retrieved the rope (using some to handcuff Emilio as well); then they made quick work to drag them out to the platform over the lava river, sending in Lime first after some heartfelt farewells, then setting Drama's body up on the platform. Green asked to be the one to push her in, getting a chuckle out of Grey and the go ahead. As they walked out onto the platform, Emilio watched closely as- very subtly- Drama's body twitched. "Wait! Stop!" He called out, pulling Green back. Everyone else jumped forward to catch them as well, and froze when they too noticed that Drama was coming to.

She blinked a few times, gently lifting her head and looking around once noticing the extreme heat. She flinched, then noticing the crewmates staring at her and she smirked at them. "Well well well..." she laughed. "I see. You've killed my host after all."

"What the fuck...?!" Emilio whispered. "You... should be dead..."

"Oh, Drama _is_ dead," it spoke, struggling against the restraints. " _I_ , on the other hand, am very much alive." As the others were stunned into silence, Blue slowly shuffled around and stood up. Grey quickly stumbled to grab the gun from their pocket, and Blue took this hesitation to lash out at the closest one with it's tongue, contorting Drama's face to unleash the horror of the parasite. And that unfortunate target was Green, the tongue piercing into their torso and curling around them. "'If you're willing to kill', right Grey?" it muffled, pulling Green in and tossing them into the river.

Blue drew back their tongue, laughing more and more as inky black saliva spilled from it's mouth. It looked back at the group, sending chills through their spines, when suddenly a shot rang out and it's body twitched. Then another, and another, each shot jerking Blue backwards. "Die!" Grey shouted, unloading another shot. "Why! Won't! You! Just! Die!"

Shot after shot, step by step, until Blue took one last step and slipped, falling straight back into the lava. It's screams were heard gurgling and sizzling away. Grey threw the gun into the river as well with one last huff, and stayed there, catching their breath. Emilio and Cyan slowly looked to her, then down at the river, and slowly backed away. Once she was calmed enough, Grey stood up, shaking off the last bit of nerves, then turned back to the other two and shrugged. "What. I got rid of it didn't I? Can't let something like that running around."

The other two looked to each other then and shrugged as well. It was... over. Grey went over to Cyan and gently took them in her arms, leading them away from the scene while Emilio sat down. He was just so tired, so worn out. _'So,'_ he thought, fiddling with the rope at his hands, _'this is what it's come to...'_ He stared out at the bubbling lava, letting the past events wash- _burn_ away, before getting up and following the other two aliens inside, having nothing left to say.

* * *

> Drama was ejected.

* * *

Several months went by. Grey reported to their planet's headquarters about what went down, and reinforcements came by to help. Before they arrived, she gave Emilio the rest of their equipment and an actual working rocket that would take him back to Earth. "So you won't have to lie about what happened here," they had told him. "Leave that to me."

And so, Emilio bid them farewell, thanking them and apologizing for everything, then got himself set up for take off. They helped him launch, setting his course for their headquarters back on Earth, and he tried his best not to think about the look Drama had given him as she died.

It took another long, lonely couple of years before he could finally see Earth in the distance. Finally, _home_. He set out a transmission to warn them of his landing, giving his personal code and name, and hearing their clamors of surprise to hear that he was still alive after all these years after having lost contact with their ship. Emilio made a swift landing, welcomed by open arms to everyone on the space station, and given praise, warmth, comfort, and even being able to find that his family was contacted and surprised him there as well. It was... all so perfect. Emilio gave a tired smile, grateful to finally rest easy for once. Grateful to know that surviving- all those deaths, the betrayal, the choices he made- it was still worth it. All for the sake of living.

* * *

> Crewmate Victory. End


End file.
